


I Hear You Calling

by brightsee



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Original Character Death(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-12
Updated: 2014-12-12
Packaged: 2018-03-01 03:32:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2757989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightsee/pseuds/brightsee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Coda, how Daryl handles Beth's death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Hear You Calling

“Just a few more hours,

And I’ll be right home to you.

I think I hear them calling,

Oh, Beth, what can I do?”

-

He holds her body close to him, hugging her lifeless form to his chest. Darryl feels that if he stares hard enough that maybe he can see the silent fall and rise of her chest, see the life in her blue eyes, or the corners of her mouth quirk into a smile.

Instead there’s nothing. No movement. Her voice, once sweet with a southern drawl, will never be heard again. Her eyes, once sparkling with strength and determination, will never open again.

Beth was dead.

It’s funny how many deaths you can pay witness to and no matter how many friends you bury, it hurts every damn time. Except this time it hurts a little more. The pain digs deeper into his heart.

He walks out of the hospital, tears slowly pooling and falling. Her sister catches sight of the body in his arms, or rather, the corpse. Maggie collapses, tears streaming down her cheeks. Everyone around him is solemn, quiet and in mourning.

They take the body to the forest, everyone following slowly behind him. He lays her down gently on the forest floor and backs away, giving everyone the time they need to say goodbye.

Darryl can’t take the whispers and the grieving so he begins on her grave. They always said, bury the ones you love. He just didn’t think he’d ever be burying her.

She was a fighter, she was supposed to live. She’d proven her worth, proved that she wasn’t like Carol or Michonne, but she made it. She was supposed to make it.

He digs though his hands are numb and bleeding but doesn’t stop. They don’t have time to be as exposed as they are but he won’t stop until she’s six feet under. A fighter like her deserves a proper grave, a proper send off.

A hand on his shoulder has him halting his actions, the shovel falling from his cramped hands. He looks up and see’s Rick frowning at him. “We need to go.”

“Ain’t going nowhere until this hole is six feet. She deserves it.”

He’s almost there. Another few inches and it’ll be ready. Only he doesn’t want to stop; he can’t stop because that means as soon as he does she’ll be placed inside and covered up, gone forever. 

Rick steps away, leaving him to work. His grunts and curses probably draw the attention to walkers but he doesn’t care. Everything needs to be perfect because it’s Beth and because she didn’t deserve to die.

She was one of the good ones. The one who kept his faith alive in times where hell was all around them. He didn’t know how she did it. Once a girl who was scared but began to fight like the rest of them.

“We need to get going.” It was Carol this time, her voice soft and hesitant.

He stopped his digging to look up at her. She shielded the sunlight from his view, a shadow crossing over her features but he could see the tear tracks down her cheeks and her red eyes.

A slight nod and he was jumping out of the deep hole. It should have been deeper; he needed it to be deeper but the sun was setting and their prolonged time in one spot only drew walkers’ attentions.

Rick carried Beth’s body over to the hole, and he helped place it gently inside. The group gathers around the site and words are said. Maggie declares love for her sister. Rick swears she was like a daughter to him. Carol says she’s going to miss her. Other mutter similar words but he says nothing.

There’s nothing he wants to say to her like this. He wants his words not to fall on deaf ears but rather for Beth to be alive to hear them. When the first handful of dirt gets tossed into the grave, Darryl takes off quietly.

He doesn’t need to see it filled. To see the dirt he dug out stain her skin or hair, to see her lifeless body soiled. He’s far enough away that he can’t see what the group is doing but close enough that he’s there if they need help.

His priority now is to build a cross. The grave needs to be marked. She earned that. She deserves to be so much more than just another life cut short.

So he manages to find two thick branches and works them into a sturdy cross. With his knife he carves her name into the wood, making sure it’s readable. When he returns to the site, the soil is freshly set and the cross gets hammered into the ground, closest to her head.

Everyone is solemn at the action, getting their final goodbyes in before they prepare to move on. He knows it’s coming. Their making the move north but he almost can’t stand the thought of leaving her there, all by herself.

He pulls a flower he found at the base of a tree and set it down on top of the fresh soil. It’s a wildflower, purple petals and a long green stem. The light colour and simple composition of it reminds him of her.

Slowly everyone leaves one by one, ready to move on. Darryl doesn’t want to, can’t stand the thought of leaving her. He’s lost her twice now’ he doesn’t think he can lose her again, even if she’s already gone.

The wind picks up, howls through the trees and it’s almost as if he can hear her singing. He’s alone by her grave. The warm air surrounds him and he feels wrapped up in a hug. It’s Beth’s hug from behind with her skinny arms thrown around his back.

Darryl’s eyes close and his heart begins to beat a little faster. He can feel her with him and he doesn’t want to move but their calling his name. Carol whispered it from a few feet away, scared to come any closer. Rick yells at him, telling him to get going but he refuses to budge.

The howling wind picks up and cools his heated skin. He can see her smiling at him behind his closed lids. He almost chuckles when he remembers her throwing her middle finger up at him at the fire.

“You’re going to miss me so bad when I’m gone, Daryl Dixon.”

Her voice echoes through his ears and his eyes snap open. The wind stops and the warmth leaves his side. He’s not sure what to do but he feels like he needs to move on, for her, because that’s what she would want him to do.

**Author's Note:**

> this was my first ever twd/bethyl drabble, hope i did the pairing justice. I still haven't see coda and i refuse to because i don't want to see baby girl beth greene die. I'm also in denial and pretty sure she'll be coming back. here's hoping.   
> lyrics at the top and drabble were inspired by kiss's song named beth, take a listen.   
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbtO_Ayjw0M


End file.
